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The team looks up as streamers fall from the ceiling after being crowned national champion April 20.
RAISING THE BAR Women’s gymnastics wins fourth national championship, honoring mentor who died in February
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O RT W O RT H — On Saturday night, Oklahoma’s women’s gymnastics team was crowed national champion for the fourth time in five years. The Sooners placed first in the NCAA women’s gymnastics team finals with a score of 198.3375 — defeating LSU, UCLA and Denver — and, in doing so, capped off a perfect season. For a program that has experienced as much success as Oklahoma has in the past few years, what makes this one so special? They did it for Dave. Jenn Richardson has been the Oklahoma gymnastics athletic trainer for 12 years. Her husband, Dave Richardson, who played a mentor role for many of the Sooners, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016. C o m i ng i nt o t h i s s e a s o n , Oklahoma’s team hashtag and mantra was PZTSF. It stands for .0275, or the final point differential between Oklahoma, the 2018 runner-up, and UCLA, the national champion. But when Richardson passed away t h i s Feb r u a r y , P Z T S F went out the window, in favor of something more. DIFD — do it for Dave — became Oklahoma’s new driving force. This was a maj or turning point in Oklahoma’s season. At this moment, the Sooners came together to recognize that this season was not about them or
STEVEN PLAISANCE • @SPLAISANCE00 what they lost last season. It was about something much bigger. “Dave was a huge part of our team and our family,” coach K.J. Kindler said. “He came into the gym all the time,” junior Maggie Nichols said. “He was considered our Norman dad. We could count on him and Jenn — their whole family — for anything. They were kind of our second parents; we could go to them for anything. He was just there through it all.” The Sooners adorned their hair w ith blue r ibb ons and emblazoned the initials “DR” across the backs of their leotards as a constant reminder that Dave is with them, always watching over them. According to the Sooners, tonight Dave sent them a message back, in the form of a championship trophy. “I know tonight he was lifting us up,” Kindler said. “Ever y routine we did tonight, we did it for him,” Nichols said. “He was there with us. He helped us win this national championship.” Before the meet began, many of the opposing gymnasts appeared ver y loose as they warmed up, dancing and interacting with the crowd. Oklahoma, on the other hand, carried an intense, determined demeanor all the way through warmups and into the meet. The Sooners intended to leave that
arena as champions, and they certainly looked the part. “We are very business-like,” Kindler said. “We’re very organized, very strategic in what we do. We try to stick to the plan” Like they have so many times this season, Oklahoma grabbed control of the meet right out of the gates.
“We have good times and we have bad times. We have moments of struggle and conflict. We’ve had moments of sadness. We’ve had moments of triumph. That’s what families do, they go through all those emotions together. ” K.J. KINDLER, COACH
Even when sophomore Anastasia Webb’s leadoff bars routine scored a 9.8125, a solid score but not stellar, the Sooners stuck to the plan. The next five Oklahoma gymnasts scored at least a 9.85, including a tremendous 9.9375 by Nichols, to round out a strong bars performance
and place Oklahoma in first after one rotation. From there, Oklahoma’s lead only grew. The Sooners breezed through the next two events, scoring a 49.6125 on balance beam and a 49.65 on floor. As Oklahoma shifted to vault for the final rotation of their season, they carried a four-tenths lead. After five strong Sooner vaults, senior Brenna Dowell prepared for the final routine of her Sooner career. Though Oklahoma’s fate seemed set by this point, Dowell could end all worries in an instant with a good vault. Instead, she gave a great one. Dowell scored a 9.9875, the highest vault of the night, to finally turn Oklahoma’s championship dreams into reality. “I was in awe,” Dowell said. “That was the first vault that I really stuck all season. To do it on the very last night, on the night of the final four, to really clinch that victory — pure joy.” Even in celebration, Kindler’s Sooners are exceptional at sticking to the plan. On Saturday night, the plan was to do it for Dave, and Dowell did exactly that. “Me and Nico, we’re both seniors, so we started out talking about how that was our last vault ever,” Dowell said of her postmeet interaction with fellow senior Nicole Lehrmann. “And then I looked at her and I said,
‘We did it.’ And then I looked at her again and we pointed to the sky and we said, ‘We did it for Dave.’ We did it for him. To honor his memory in this way was so special.” After an absolute roller coaster of a season, it’s only right that the Sooners would go out on top. “It has been quite the journey this year,” Kindler said. “We were dealing with a new issue every single week. Some were illnesses, some were personal issues, some were injuries. We were faced with adversity from beginning to end. It might have looked easy from the outside, but we were battling the entire time.” Looking back on the countless obstacles that the Sooners faced this season, their ability to come together, stick to the plan and rise above it all to win a title for Dave has only brought them closer together. “We op erate as a family,” Kindler said. “We have good times and we have bad times. We have moments of struggle and conflict. We’ve had moments of sadness. We’ve had moments of triumph. That’s what families do, they go through all those emotions together. “This year has just been a miracle, it really has been.” Steven Plaisance
srplaisance@ou.edu
Men’s gym falls to Stanford in stunning loss Win streak ends at 121, third-longest in NCAA CHANDLER ENGELBRECHT @ctengelbrecht
Despite what the last five years have shown, Oklahoma can’t win ‘em all. No. 1 Oklahoma lost in stunning fashion on Saturday night as the top-ranked Sooners fell to No. 2 Stanford 415.222-414.556 in the national championship team
finals. The loss ends the Sooners’ historic win streak at 121 consecutive wins and is their first loss since the 2014 national championship, where the Sooners also finished runner-up in the team finals. The streak, outside of the 121-straight wins, was comprised of four-consecutive MPSF conference championships and fourstraight national titles. “It was an amazing run,” head coach Mark Williams said after the meet. “It’s hard to have a
streak of victories over such a long period of time, and we were a little off tonight.” This is now the eighth time the Sooners have finished national runner-up under Williams, who has led the Sooners to nine national titles and has never had a Sooner squad finish lower than fourth place in the nation. The Sooners started the meet with 69.698 and 67.265 on floor exercise and pommel horse, respectively, in the first two rotations. Senior co-captain and
Nissen-Emery award winner Yul Moldauer took home All-America status for his 14.333 score on pommel horse. Moldauer would bring his career total to 18 All-American honors in the meet, moving him into a tie for second in NCAA history. In rotation two, it appeared Oklahoma was starting to piece together a winning performance as they went 70-plus on still rings and vault in the next two rotations. Seniors Jake Maloley, Peter Daggett and Moldauer posted
14.266, 14.366 and 14.533, respectively, on still rings, both Daggett and Moldauer took home AllAmerican accolades for their performances in the event. Vault saw freshman Vitaliy Guimaraes and senior co-captain Levi Anderson post scores of 14.800 and 14.666, respectively, which garnered both gymnasts All-American status. As the meet began to draw to a close, the intensity began to build up. In rotation five, the Sooners See GYM page 6